I Am Number Four Sarah's POV
by Divergent13
Summary: I never knew what it was about him. There was just something... mysterious, I guess you could say, and I liked it. My name is Sarah Hart, and this is my point of view. *Chapter two is up! Finally. The next one could be a while because I have holidays coming up. Enjoy!*
1. Chapter 1

I

I walk around the front of the school taking pictures of everyone. They don't refuse. I fell in love with photography last year. Now, it's pretty much all I do. I have a website called 'Strangers in Paradise' and most of the photos I take go up there.

I look around and my eyes lock on someone new. I know instantly it's the guy my mom told me about.

He has messy blond hair and is wearing a black jacket over a light blue T-shirt and jeans.

I see him looking at me so I smile and wave. He looks over his shoulder like he's not sure who I was waving to. He turns back and I start walking towards him, raising my camera. I start taking pictures but when he realizes what I'm doing, he raises his hands to cover his face. I lower my camera and smile.

'Don't be shy,' I say.

'I'm not. Just trying to protect your lens. My face might break it.'

I laugh. 'With that scowl it might. Try smiling.'

He smiles a little.

'That's not a real smile,' I tease. 'A smile involves showing your teeth.'

So, he does, and I start taking pictures again. I see a tan, black and white beagle come running up to him. He looks like a stray, which makes me wonder why he ran up to John. My mom told me his name.

I get him to kneel down next to the dog so I can take a picture, but as soon as I start, the dog starts moving away. I frown, and then take a few more of John.

'Do you know that dog?' I ask.

'Never seen him before.'

'He sure likes you,' I say. 'You're John, right?' I hold out my hand. At the same time, I notice he has blue eyes. A dark blue.

'Yeah. How'd you know?'

'I'm Sarah Hart. My mother is your real-estate agent. She told me you'd probably be starting school today, and I should look out for you. You're the only new kid to show up today.'

He laughs. 'Yeah, I met your mom. She was nice.'

I nod, and then glance down at my hand, then back at him. 'You gonna shake my hand?'

He smiles and shakes it. I notice something. His hand is really warm. Warmer than it probably should be.

'Wow,' I say.

'What?'

'Your hand feels hot. Really hot, like you have a fever or something.'

He frowns. 'I don't think so.'

I let go. 'Maybe you're just warm blooded.'

'Yeah, maybe.'

The school warning bell rings from behind me. John looks up.

'Warning bell,' I tell him. 'We have five minutes to get to class.'

He nods.

'Okay, well I should go.' I smile. 'Nice meeting you, John.'

He smiles. 'You, too.'

I turn and walk away, still smiling to myself. There's something different about him. I don't know what it is, but I like it.

First period is a drag; I didn't expect it to be anything but, though it feels longer today for some reason. That's when I find myself thinking about John, and wondering what classes he will be in. And that's when I realize that the whole morning I've been looking out for him, waiting to see him again. That's why it feels longer. He must be getting the big lecture and school tour from Mr Harris.

I walk in to my last class of second period, which is astronomy. I find a table and sit down. I end up staring down at the table in front of me, lost in thought. I would like to say, lost in thought about photography, or maybe… animals. But that's not true. I'm lost in thought about John. I shake my head. I barely know him.

The chair on my right squeaks on the linoleum floor as someone pulls it back and sits down. I look over at them and see Mark. He is wearing his letterman jacket, and his black hair is full of gel.

We used to date, that is, until I realized how he was changing me, and what he is really like. So, I broke up with him. He wasn't happy, but I don't care. It's the best thing I have ever done.

'Hey,' he says.

I just roll my eyes and look away.

Mrs Burton starts off on… something. I'm not sure. I can't concentrate. Mrs Burton is probably something like sixty, has gray hair, and she is wearing a pink wool sweater.

At some point through the class, the door opens and Mr Harris sticks his head in.

'Mrs Burton, sorry to interrupt. Your new student is here.'

Something inside me lifts up.

'Oh, great!' she says in her high-pitched voice. 'Send him in!'

Mr Harris opens the door further and John walks in. Mrs Burton straightens her red glasses as Mr Harris closes the door.

'And what is your name?' she asks John.

John looks nervous. He takes a deep breath. 'John Smith.'

'Great! And where are you from?'

'Fl – Santa Fe.'

'Class, let's give him a warm welcome.'

I clap along with most of the class and John starts walking down the aisle. I smile at him, but he doesn't see.

Just as he is passing us, I see him loose his balance. I know instantly that Mark tried to trip him. Snickers spread through the crowd. I press my lips together and frown. Why does Mark always act like this?

Mrs Burton turns around. 'What happened?' she asks.

John just glares at Mark. They stay like that for a moment and some of the class groans.

'Did you want something?' John asks Mark.

Mark looks around the room, and then straightens up in his chair. 'What are you talking about?'

'You stuck your foot out when I passed. And you bumped into me outside. I thought you might have wanted something.'

Mrs Burton looks over at them. 'What's going on?'

John looks over his shoulder. 'Nothing.' He turns back to Mark. 'Well?'

Mark doesn't reply. I notice his hands tighten around the table while they stare at each other. You can feel the tension in the air. Like when you stretch out a rubber band, and you're just waiting for it to snap. But thankfully, the snap doesn't come. Mark just sighs and looks away. In a classroom, with the teacher around, he wouldn't do anything anyway. I'm worried about what he might do later, though. Mark doesn't like to let stuff go. And showing him up in class? _That _he definitely won't.

'That's what I thought,' John says. He starts walking back to his table.

Mrs Burton starts talking about Saturn, and its rings. I wonder if she was talking about that before John came in. I wouldn't know.

I feel Mark lean over to me. 'New guy's kind of a jerk, don't you think?' he whispers in my ear.

I decide I'm not going to react, but I do look over my shoulder at John. I see he is looking at me, so I smile, but he doesn't return it.

Mark leans over to me again. 'Later on, do you wa –' I automatically shake my head and push him away.

I glance up at the clock above the blackboard. Not much longer, then I can get away from Mark.

I start doodling on my notepad while I wait.

The bell goes off and I gather my books in my arms. I notice John rush out of the room, and Mark get up and follow after him. I bite my lip and go after him, but I have to get past the other kids from class first and I lose him. He's not hard to find when I get out of the room though. He's on my right, standing to my right, with John. I decide to stand back a bit, just to see what he is going to do.

'– out any teachers around, are you?' I hear Mark ask, or rather taunt. He must have just shoved John, because he loses his balance and falls onto the ground.

I step in front of Mark. 'Leave him alone,' I say.

'This has nothing to do with you.'

'Right. You see a new kid talking to me and you try immediately to start a fight with him?' I snap. '_This_ is just one example of why we aren't together anymore.'

I look down at John as he starts to get up, so I move my books to one side, and hold my hand out to him to help. When he gets up, he rushes off up the hall. His hand was even hotter this time. Like it was burning. I hope he's okay.

I turn back to Mark and glare at him.

'What?' he asks harshly.

'You know exactly what!'

He doesn't reply to that, he just stands there half staring, half glaring at me.

I sigh out of frustration and walk away.


	2. Chapter 2

2

I don't know what happened to John. He wasn't at school the next day. And I don't see him at school today, either.

I have nothing to do before my first class, so I get a book out of my locker and sit down on one of the windowsills to read it. After a while, I realize that Mark and some of his friends are hanging out in the hallway in front of me. I consider moving away, but I don't. I like where I'm sitting and I'm not going to move away just because Mark is here. I look back down and get lost in my book, but after a while, someone's voice makes me looks up.

'– know what I want.' It's John. He's standing just outside of Marks group. He looks mad. Controlled, though. I get up and walk over, just to the edge of the crowd.

Mark pushes away from his locker and stands in front of John, so close they're almost touching. John smiles confidently.

'You think you can stay in school a little longer today?' Mark asks. 'Or are you going to run off again like a little b****?'

Snickers spread through the crowd like yesterday. I stay silent.

'I guess we'll see, won't we?'

'Yeah, I guess we will.' He steps closer. I didn't even know that was possible.

'I want my phone back,' John says. I realize that the crowd has gotten bigger.

'I don't have your phone.'

John shakes his head. 'There are two people who saw you take it.'

For some reason I can't help but wonder if that's actually true or not.

'Yeah, and what if it was me? What are you going to do?'

'You've been warned. You have until the end of the day.' He turns around and walks away.

'Or what?' Mark yells after him. John doesn't answer.

I watch him as he walks away. I don't want them to fight. I tell myself that I will figure out something. I just don't know what that 'something' is yet.

Astronomy again. And, as yesterday, Mark is sitting next to me.

John comes in the room. I close my eyes and hope that Mark won't do anything, but of course, I'm wrong.

'What's up, runner?' he asks. 'I heard the cross-country team is looking for new members.'

I sigh. 'Don't be such a d***.'

John looks at me as he passes, which makes my heart beat faster and I feel almost giddy inside.

Mrs Burton starts talking about Saturn again, and then turns off the lights and starts a video. I already know about the planets, so I don't feel like I'm learning anything, but I try concentrate on that, rather than the feeling that Mark is sitting right next to me. Like the feeling you get when you see an insect of some sort and want to move away from it.

In the light of the rotating planets, I see Mark start to move his hand over to me, so I slap it away and then, quietly, move my chair to the side, as far as the table will allow me and then concentrate on the video again.

After lunch, I make my way to home economics. I don't particularly like cooking, but I don't hate it, either. It's fun, sometimes.

When I walk into the room I see John sitting in one of the chairs. Something lifts up inside me.

I walk over and sit next to him. 'Hi.'

'Hi,' he replies.

It goes quiet for a moment and I look over at him. He is twirling a pencil in his right hand.

'I'm sorry Mark is being a jerk to you.'

He shrugs. 'It's not your fault.'

'You guys aren't really going to fight, are you?' I ask.

'I don't want to.'

I nod. 'He can be a real d***. He always tries to show he's boss.'

'It's a sign of insecurity.'

'He's not insecure,' I say. 'Just a d***.'

I notice orange spots of dried spaghetti sauce on his shirt. At lunchtime today, some of Marks friends were throwing it at him and another guy called Sam. Then they all had a fight and got sent to Mr Harris' office. I didn't see it myself, but the whole school is talking about it.

I pull a hardened piece from his hair.

'Thanks,' he says.

I sigh. 'I'm sorry that happened.' I look him in the eyes. 'We're not together, you know?' I don't know why, but I feel I need to make that clear to him.

'No?'

I shake my head.

Mrs Benshoff starts telling us how to make pancakes. I listen carefully, but for some reason I can't help noticing how close John is to me. I glance over at him for a moment and then look away, focusing on the floor, for some reason feeling like butterflies are flapping around in my stomach.

Mrs Benshoff pairs us together and we walk through the door at the back of the room, and into the kitchen. I walk into one of the kitchen units and grab an apron from one of the draws. I put it over my head and then walk over to John.

'Will you tie this for me?'

He nods slightly and I turn around so that he can tie it. I can't see, but I can tell he has to tie it again. What I can only explain as electricity runs through me at his touch as he does.

When he's done, he puts his on and tries to tie it, but because he can't see what he's doing, his fingers fumble around, not succeeding. I smile.

'Here, silly.' I take the straps and tie it, figuring that he won't be able to do it himself. That or we will be standing here for ages.

'Thanks.'

John grabs an egg and tries to crack it, but it ends up going onto the bench, rather than the bowl. I laugh and grab a new egg, putting it in his hand and then holding his hand so I can show him how to do it properly. After we crack it on the rim of the bowl I look up at him and smile.

'Like that,' I say.

I let go of his hand – not really wanting to – and then start mixing the batter. After Mrs Benshoff comes to check on us, I pour some of the batter into the pan. John just watches.

'How do you like Ohio so far?' I ask, partly being polite, and partly because the silence between us was killing me.

'It's okay,' he says. 'I could have used a better first day of school.'

I smile. 'What happened, anyway?' I ask, remembering when he took off up the hall. 'I was worried about you.'

He puts his hands in his pockets. 'Would you believe it if I told you I was an alien?'

I smile; the thought is ridiculous. 'Shut up,' I say playfully as I flip a pancake. It sizzles on the surface of the pan.

'What really happened?' I ask.

He laughs. 'I have really bad asthma. For some reason I had an attack yesterday.'

'Well, I'm glad you feel better.'

He smiles. I put the four pancakes on a plate and pour a heap of maple syrup on it. I hand him a fork and we cut into them.

'Not bad,' he says.

After class, we walk out together.

I smile. 'You know, you're not so bad for a sophomore.' I nudge him. 'I don't care what they say.'

'Thanks, and you're not so bad yourself for a – whatever you are.'

'I'm a junior.'

The conversation falls silent for a moment and I start thinking about the fight Mark and John have planned for after school…

'You're not really going to fight Mark at the end of the day, are you?' I ask.

'I need my phone back. Besides, look at me.' He points to his shirt.

I shrug as we stop at his locker. I glance at the number on it. 'Well, you shouldn't,' I say.

'I don't want to,' he replies.

I roll my eyes. 'Boys and their fights. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Have a good rest of the day,' he says.

I smile and turn away.

My last class of the day is with Mark. It's Health, which doesn't hold my interest one bit. I spend most of my time glancing down to Mark's bag which is on the floor by his feet.

When the bell rings, signalling the end of class, and school for the day, one of Mark's friends – Kevin – comes up to him and asks what he's doing later on, after the fight.

I look at his bag again. I told myself earlier that I would do something to stop their fight… If he had his phone back, he wouldn't do it, right?

I bite my lip. This will be the only chance I have.

I glance at Mark and Kevin, making sure they don't see me, and stretch my hand down towards the bag. I decide to try the front zipper.

My heart beats slightly faster as I slowly unzip it, just enough to get my hand in. I look up at them again, but they're too busy talking to notice much else. Everyone is starting to get up and leave though.

_Hurry up, _I tell myself.

I feel around inside the bag until my hand wraps around something small and cold. I pull it out. I don't know what John's phone looks like, but I know this isn't Mark's.

I quickly put it in my pocket and get up. I don't look at Mark as I walk past him and out into the hallway.

All I seem to be aware of is John's phone pressing against my leg as I walk. I grab it out and stare at it.

Should I?

I flip it open and try find my way to his contacts. I raise my eyebrows as I see that only his dad's number is listed. Strange.

I add my number to his phone and smile to myself, then flip it shut and put it away, into my bag this time.

I walk to John's locker and see him close it.

'Hi,' I say.

His eyes widen for a second in surprise.

I look over my shoulder and then back at him. 'I have something for you.'

'It's not more pancakes, is it?' I still feel like I'm about to burst.'

I laugh nervously. 'It's not pancakes. But if I give it to you, you have to promise me you won't fight.'

'Okay.'

I glance over my shoulder again, and then reach into my bag, pulling out his phone and handing it to him.

He raises his eyebrows, looking at me questioningly. 'How did you get this?'

I shrug as he takes it.

'Does Mark know?'

'Nope,' I say. 'So are you still going to be a tough guy?'

'I guess not.'

I smile slightly. 'Good.'

'Thank you.' He looks surprised that I would do this for him.

'You're welcome.' I turn and walk away. I hope he keeps his word. He has no reason to fight, now. If I'm right, and he's different to most guys, he won't do it.

I go to my locker so I can get my stuff and go home.


End file.
